To feel like the tide of public opinion has turned against the pro-palestine protestors

[JKLolling]

Every social media feed I have is full of irate people commenting on pro-gaza protestors.

From people commenting on Greta Thunberg sharing the picture of the starving hostage and claiming it was a Palestinian (wtf was she thinking?!) , to the student saying Israelis should 'go back where they came from', there are thousands of angry comments. Lots of the protestors hiding their faces too, and on a local Uni group people are trying to name the protestors seen today and get them removed from their courses

I'm disgusted with what I've seen today, and it feels like the tide is turning and people are seeing these protests for what they really are: an opportunity for hate-filled morons to get together and intimidate people. I feel like they've completely ruined their cause just because they couldn't wait a day to protest.

It's the complete opposite. Fewer and fewer people are supporting Israel as, unsurprisingly, most people are against genocide.

I don’t feel like we hear much about ordinary Israelis and their views of their government. I know some hostage families are said to be frustrated by what they see as a lack of urgency and people are protesting against Netanyahu, but how widespread is this in general? It doesn’t seem to be reported very much, at least not here in the UK?

I don't think pro-Israel influencers have had much of anything to do with the shift in public opinion. I think pro-pally protesters showing zero grace immediately after Manchester, was a sickening spectacle and exposed hardcore antisemitism. Not a good look and one that has been illuminating. The only influencers I noticed were the flotilla gang who were high on their own supply on what looked like a pointless Mediterranean jolly. I was influenced against them.

Yes,ofc a lot of Palestinians are small children so not accountable in that way...But painting the adults all as perfect angels does no good...

You’re perhaps in an echo chamber because of what you’re engaging with online. Tide isn’t turning at all, people aren’t going to stop protesting or boycotting. The disruption will continue. I remember reading that the fight to bring down apartheid in South Africa didn’t happen over a weekend but it was consistent protesting on a regular basis with mass boycotts.

The horrific images of children being murdered, the testimonies of drs, the rape allegations, highest number of journalists killed, babies left to died in incubators and the countless horrific anecdotes warrant a new definition of genocide. Israel has done irreparable damage to itself.

Your empathy is overwhelming

The whole tone and wording of your post suggests that this is all wishful thinking. Maybe you daydream about this and wish it were true. In the real world, even people I know who were previously silent (possibly pro-Isr) or without an opinion have started being vocal about the evil Israel is doing.

That's because of theor appaling behaviour during protests. Protest all tou like, but do it peacefully and without scaring other people.

I'm now thinking they just do it to stor up trouble and spread hate. The chants, cheers, calling for murder isn't right. They should just go to palestine.

Yeah I think they shat themselves dancing and 'protesting' after two Jews were murdered, then shat themselves again by continuing with the weekend protest despite being asked not to to free up police resources to protect Jewish spaces, then shat themselves again by deliberately protesting on the anniversary of October 7th.

Normal people think that these are not reasonable actions.

I think that right from the beginning some people wanted people to believe that they are 'hate marches', nothing much has changed, those who support Israel will never like people speaking out against them and try to silence them however they can. People who are pro Palestinian are aware of this and have been from the beginning, they know how much Israels fans loathe them and that they hate how successful the education campaign has been around Israels appalling behaviour. It's par for the course that if you support Palestines right to exist and Palestinians right to live free from occupation that you will be called names. It's water off a ducks back at this stage for most.

It’s not about them stopping though is it, because they weren’t happening every day, only on Saturdays. Until suddenly they decided to have them on a Thursday, and a Tuesday…

Also I think some people on this thread are making a false equivalence. The question was about what people thought of pro-Palestine marchers, not what people think of the conflict. You can not like what is happening in Gaza and also think the marchers are self satisfied, not helping, and largely anti semitic…

Well its interesting. I dont really go in Facebook apart from for a defunct business account. I had to go on it today to say that we are now permanently closed. The feed on the account hadn't been looked at for months and wasnt really active for at least 2 years.
This means the feed is absolutely full of paid for posts.
Almost the entire feed was negative stuff about the pro-palestine protesters or slating Gary Neville about some video. Its been very heavily push by a multitude of paid accounts that have nothing to do with the fairly innocuous business I used to run!

I think it’s a close run thing…

If I felt safe going to a march with a banner saying - End Hamas, End the Israeli Actions, I probably would.

The tide is turning because people are seeing there are agitators who have a very different agenda.

I would like to think that most people understand that the situation is incredibly complex and nuanced, and that neither side is blameless.

I would also like to believe that most people are horrified by the suffering and loss which has been experienced by innocent people on both sides of the conflict. The stories from both Jewish and Palestinian victims are heartbreaking.

We don't have to reduce everything to simple soundbites. We don't have to pick a side. We should remember our common humanity.

can I hold the other end of this banner please? 😔

I think Britain is generally a very moderate country and the value we hold dearest is being fair to others and ourselves.

I don’t think the tide has turned because ultimately when British people see pictures of children starving in Gaza, they won’t perceive that as just or fair. Religion, race and what has happened in the past doesn’t factor in. Starving and killing innocent children isn’t ever the right thing to do.

People are misunderstanding and think you mean the tide is turning on people's opinion of the conflict, not people's opinions of the people who yell Death to the IDF and Globalise the Intifada on a weekly basis.

Why are so many old people acting like Hamas are freedom fighters? You'd think experience might bring wisdom...🤔

I'd hold the middle

Don't you have empathy for the Nova victims or Shani Louk, or Kfir Bibas, or the other hostages?

This thread is about the protests though. I think recent events show the hardcore protestors are antisemitic and/or narcissistic. The discussion is not about the Israeli government, who are reprehensible. The protests have become hate events and Jewish people in the UK are suffering due to the direct and indirect effects of them.

Absolutely agree. I think that some consider Hamas to blame for their own starving population.

Eh? My empathy is with the hundreds of children murdered by Israel this last week alone. I’m happy with my empathy being mostly reserved for murdered children. Nothing will take my focus from their systemic and sustained murders